Genius in the Background

Tibor
By
Krolyi
with Nick Aplin

Quality
Chess
www.quality
chess.co.uk
Contents
Key to Symbols used
4
Preface by Tibor Krolyi
5
Chapter 1 Topalovs Junior Trainer
7
Chapter 2 Versatility
39
Chapter 3 A Gentleman highly respected and fondly remembered
82
Chapter 4 Kasparovs Junior Trainer
113
Chapter 5 In Love with Chess until the End
148
Chapter 6 Kasparovs Half-Brother
196
Chapter 7
The Endgame Expert
220
Chapter 8
The Man whose Life was Saved by Chess
260
Chapter 9
When Garry played I was with him
278
Chapter 10 The Stars of a developing Chess Nation
320
Chapter 11 The Moscow Magician
342
Index

381
Preface by Tibor Krolyi
Attila Jzsef, who died in 1937, was one of Hungarys greatest ever poets, but while he was
alive he received very little appreciation for his art. Andor Nemeth was one of his few close
friends; he understood the high level of his art, but never expressed this to the poet. Years
later, when Jzsefs poems had become part of Hungarian culture and were taught in every
Hungarian school, and many streets had been named after him, Nemeth was asked why he
had not expressed his ap-preciation (Jzsef was longing for it). He answered, I am sorry,
but when I beat somebody three times out of five at chess, I cant consider him a genius.

Chess society has a similar problem; we only value the winners over the board. Yes,
champions have the greatest impact on the game, and they deserve enormous respect for
their legacy, but the personalities who did not score so well should also enjoy our respect.

I am fortunate in that I have already had the chance to write about Judit Polgar, Garry Kasparov, and
Anatoly Karpov altogether five books, four of them with Nick Aplin. The chance to analyse and
portray the creations of these chess giants naturally made me appreciate their play very much.
Although I will always remain proud of these books, there have of course been countless other
articles and publications devoted to the achievements of these and other famous chess players. At the
same time, I know of several other chess personalities who have accomplished a great deal, yet
remain unknown to the great majority of chess fans. Therefore the idea occurred to me to write a
book devoted to these unknown talents. By doing so, I hoped to create a book that would be truly
unique in its subject matter, and would enable the chess public to become acquainted with a selection
of lesser known but still outstanding personalities. I was happy that when I mentioned the idea to my
co-author Nick Aplin, he was immediately enthusiastic about it.

Most of the people featured in this book have recorded significant achievements, yet they remain
virtually anonymous to the great majority of chess fans. A few of them are known amongst cer-
tain segments of the chess world, but none are known as widely as I believe they deserve to be.
Some are still alive, while others, I am sorry to say, are no longer with us. Some I know or knew
well, and others I have never met. All have made their unique contributions to the world of
chess, and all have their own sometimes very moving stories.

Instead of simply writing about each individual in a routine way, I took a couple of
additional steps that I believe have added significantly to the value of each chapter.
Wherever possible, I conducted interviews (some in person, and others by e-mail) with the
featured individuals, which have subsequently been reproduced within the text. I hope that
after reading them the reader will feel as though he has got to know the person at least a
little better than before. Secondly, I asked a number of strong players, some of whom are
simply legendary in chess, to write a short appraisal of the individuals included here. I
never expected to receive so many contributions from so many great players! I found this
response tremendously gratifying, and believe it underlines the value of the book.
Thank you for evaluating
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